Monday, 17 November 2014

Fungicidal activity of biocides against fungal isolates

A
new paper of interest has been published: “In vitro fungicidal activity of
biocides against pharmaceutical environmental fungal isolates”.

The
paper has been written by T. Sandle, R. Vijayakumar, M. Saleh Al Aboody and S.
Saravanakumar and it has been published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology.

The
abstract states:

Aims: To determine
the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of a range of cleanroom fungi
against three disinfectants common to the pharmaceutical and healthcare
sectors: biguanide (chlorhexidine) and two quaternary ammonium compounds
(benzalkonium chloride and cetrimide).

Methods and
Results:
The in vitro fungicidal activities of the three biocides were studied against
112 cleanroom fungal isolates using broth microdilution technique (CLSI M38-A2
standard).

Conclusions: Minimum
inhibitory concentration (MIC) for all three biocides against hyaline fungi
showed results of not more than 16 lg ml-1. Alternaria showed <32
lg ml-1 and other dematiaceous fungi reported that 8–16 lg ml-1
for biguanides and QACs. This study clearly demonstrates that the most
frequently isolated micro-organisms from an environmental monitoring programme
may be periodically subjected to broth microdilution testing with cleanroom
disinfectant agents used in the disinfection programme confirm their
sensitivity profile.

Significance and
Impact of the Study:
No large collection of data exists on the activity of biocides on
pharmaceutical cleanroom fungal isolates. This is the first study report with
large collection of cleanroom fungal isolates tested against common biocides
using the broth microdilution antifungal susceptibility testing to determine
the MIC value. The data presented support a quality control procedure for
cleanroom disinfection.